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Wikipedia:WikiProject Buddhism

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Arraes.daniel (talk | contribs) at 04:33, 5 September 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Part of a series on
Buddhism
History
Buddhist texts
Practices
Nirvāṇa
Traditions
Buddhism by country

WikiProject Buddhism is a group of people dedicated to improving Buddhism-related contents in Wikipedia. This page contains only suggestions: things to give you focus and to get you going and you should not feel obligated in the least to follow them. If you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the guidelines below may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles!

Scope

This WikiProject aims primarily to promote better coordination, content distribution, and cross-referencing between pages dealing with Buddhism and its sects, texts, terms, philosophies, etc.

current-projects

Currently active projects within the domain of WikiProject Buddhism... if you don't know where to start, one of these pages or sub-projects will welcome your input:

  • Buddhism and Christianity could use a fair bit of work if anyone's interested. referred by Writtenonsand (talk) 17:18, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
  • David Kalupahana User:Kester ratcliff has started an article on Buddhist writer. Needs work, if anybody's interested. Referred by User:Writtenonsand (talk) 04:19, 28 May 2008


Participants

If you would like to help, feel free to add your name below. Be sure to watch this page for updates!

Inactive

Members with no edits in the past 3 months. If your name has been put here by mistake - or you're back from a Wikibreak - please feel free to move your name back onto the main list:

Structure

Departments

To do

Requested articles

Please add articles you would like others to create at:
Wikipedia:WikiProject Buddhism/Requested articles

Organizing pages:

Current:

  • Buddhism provides an overview of the topic, with short descriptions of all the major subtopics.
  • List of Buddhists lists all people notable enough for inclusion in Wikipedia who happen to be Buddhist

Categories

We have the following categories currently:

...plus 30 odd more for a total of 40 subcategories and 87 loose pages in the "Buddhism" category... anybody fancy having a go at tidying up our subcategories? Dakinijones (talk) 15:08, 27 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Article Construction

Discuss the format for each article based on the WikiProject. Include various categories applicable to the topic.

We should probably discuss article types, which may have different parameters. Example types might be:

Texts

Articles on texts should include:

  • Authorship, if known. If the supposed authorship of a text is not established by scholarship, list it as an attribution: "The text is attributed to such-and-such."
  • Date
  • Place of origin (if known)
  • A rough overview of the contents of the text
  • Separate sections for particularly important ideas in the text. Alternatively, short descriptions and links to articles on said ideas.
  • Whatever caveats regarding disputes over readings of the text, etc.
  • Associated sect(s) (Indicate, where appropriate, whether the text originated within the sect or was adopted by it after the fact.)
  • A table of translations, like this one:
Mulamadhyakakarika
Author Title Publisher Date Notes
Garfield, Jay L. The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way
 Oxford University Press 1995 A translation of the Tibetan version together with commentary.
Inada, Kenneth K. Nagarjuna: A Translation of his Mulamadhyamakakarika With an Introductory Essay The Hokuseido Press 1970 Romanized text and translation.
Kalupahana, David J. Nagarjuna: The Philosophy of the Middle Way State University of New York Press 1986 Romanized text, translation, and commentary.
McCagney, N. Nagarjuna and the Philosophy of Openness Rowman & Littlefield 1997 Romanized text, translation and philosophical analysis.
Sprung, M. Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way RKP 1979 Partial translation of the verses together with Chandrakirti's commentary.
Streng, Frederick Emptiness: A Study in Religious Meaning Abdingdon Press 1967 Translation and considerable analysis.
Thurman, Robert Wisdom: The Fundamental Stanzas on the Middle Way draft
  • A "See also" section for internal links.
  • An "External links" section for articles about the text, electronic versions of the text. (Separate sections for this?)

People

Monastic Article Naming Conventions?

I recently created and edited some articles about Thai Forest Tradition . And User:Nat_Krause was kind enough to clean up behind me a bit (redundant cats and redir Ayya Tataaloka Bhikkhuni=> Tataaloka after rm a title). I didn't realize that honorific titles are not used when naming an article about a monastic until I looked up Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)#Clerical names. I had followed the naming of the many other articles on Theravadin monastics... which were mis-named. To prevent future confusion and re-work, I'd like to propose that we:

  1. Create and post article naming conventions for Buddhist monastics (I see that Tibetan titles have been discussed)
  2. Post the conventions on the Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles) page.
  3. Clean up the existing monastic article titles (e.g.: Bhikkhu Bodhi) to be consistent with Nat's edit the convention we choose. --- Deebki 09:32, 30 August 2006 (UTC) (strikeout done 21:46, 23 September 2006 (UTC) Deebki)[reply]

Naming WITH Titles for Now: Following a discussion amongst several editors, the Thai Forest Tradition articles were named WITH the titles (e.g.: Bhikkhu Bodhi and Ayya Tathaaloka). It was decided that not using titles was simply insulting and culturally inpappropriate. For now, that is the convention our small group will use. I would like that to be consistent with other editors. Anyone interested in helping us shape a convention, perhaps for specific traditions (to remain culturally appropriate)? --Deebki 21:53, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I note that Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)#Clerical names seems to be based on Western Clergy. I'm trying to work out how to deal with the names of Tulkus. It could be seen as POV to give each incarnation a separate article - but a separate article and a succession box seems to be the sanest way of doing it. No-one knows them by their birth names - I think only the clerical name with a number will work. Secretlondon 22:43, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

About titles: I would recommend using 'bhikkhu/bhiksu', 'bhikkhuni/ bhiksuni', samanera/i /sramanera/i' as these are the basic, original classifications of monastics, and are not 'honorific' titles. If anyone wants to use Chinese and Tibetan equivalents with these terms in brackets, that would also be fine. I assume the discussion is just about whether to include titles in the names of articles, not whether to include them in the body of an article, since in that case it seems obviously reasonable to use whatever title(s) they're conventionally known by in their own tradition? I used to be a monk too, and then I'd just use 'Bhikkhu Santi' as my name in general, because I wouldn't include 'Ven' or 'Bhante' when speaking with other monks, and since I couldn't vary my user name on inet forums etc I prefered to leave out the 'bhante'. And although this isn't NPOV, I think any monks or nuns who themselves get offended about having their title missed out are just bad monks and nuns! Kester ratcliff (talk) 07:38, 18 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ideas

For concepts, special terms, and doctrines (e.g., "nirvāṇa"):

  • Ideally, the name of the article should correspond to the primary version of the term (i.e., anatta for anātman]]), with redirects sending commonly used alternatives the page.
  • The first paragraph should name the term, provide variants in different languages, identify in what sect or sects it has currency, and briefly describe it.
    • But: What should the format for specifying languages be?
      • Anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman) is a doctrine yadda yadda...
      • But one could also use abbreviations: "Anatta (Pāl. (or whatever the real abbreviation for Pāli is; Skt: anātman) is a doctrine yadda yadda..."
      • or even link off-page to a glossary (most likely Buddhist terms and concepts) that stores the language information.
      • Also, once the various terms have been defined, is it still necessary to use whatever the canonical term, or can they be regarded as interchangeable?
  • Following sections should include information like:
    • A fuller description of the idea
    • Its relation to previous ideas in and out of Buddhism. (e.g., "The doctrine of anātman is a rejection of the concept of the ātman, 'self,' or 'soul,' that is vital in several mainstream Indian philosophies. It also has implications that challenge the concept of Braḥman or Paramātman (as Braḥman), which are essential to Indian monism.")
    • Disputes or schisms involving the idea
    • Connections to common user practices
    • Discussions of important texts for understanding the idea
    • Quotes (preferably with full attribution)
    • See also
    • External links

Formatting

Transliteration

Transliterated terms from Sanskrit and Pāli should take advantage of Unicode diacritics; for example, "Nirvāṇa". These may be input either directly into the edit menu, as Unicode text, or as HTML character references such as ā. A list of relevant characters is currently available at IAST. Several template-based shortcuts also exist for transliterations, but these are strongly deprecated.

This works well for one-off mentions... but with terms that are beginning to enter the English language and thus appear frequently in some articles it is making the text very difficult for the viewer to read (and it has the feel of an academic textbook rather than an encyclopedia). Also, since many editors find using diacritics problematic this is leading to very uneven usuage throughout an article. In Vajrayana for example the diacritics appeared heavily in the intro but rarely in the sub-sections. It would make more sense to me to have a policy of only using diacritics on the first mention of a term if it is frequently repeated. Dakinijones (talk) 12:16, 21 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Transliterations from Chinese should be in Pinyin, not Wade-Giles.

Of related concern: how to express terms in origin language. (I.e., is it "Skt" or "Sanskrit", etc.)? Priority of languages? (See Talk:Buddhism)

Terminology

We aim to build up a coherent and inclusive list of Buddhist terms at Buddhist terms and concepts, but that may be a while yet. In the mean time, there are certain tricky words or clusters of words about which we may need some degree of standardization. For example

  • Buddhism is a (blank)
    • Some concern has been raised that Buddhism should not be called "a faith"; this seems reasonable. But Buddhism is probably not a "philosophy" either. "Religion" seems the safest term...right?

Recognized content

Buddhism articles by quality and importance
Quality Importance
Top High Mid Low NA ??? Total
FA 1 4 3 8
FL 3 3
A 1 1
GA 5 10 24 28 67
B 28 75 93 247 18 461
C 48 81 192 932 24 1,277
Start 36 82 429 2,078 23 2,648
Stub 2 10 122 1,601 15 1,750
List 3 1 8 91 1 104
Category 2,137 2,137
Disambig 15 15
File 23 23
Project 12 12
Template 139 139
NA 4 4 15 60 78 161
Other 27 27
Assessed 126 264 888 5,043 2,432 80 8,833
Unassessed 1 1
Total 126 264 888 5,043 2,432 81 8,834
WikiWork factors (?) ω = 30,366 Ω = 4.89

A articles

Good articles

DYK (Did You Know)s

Formerly recognized content

Former good articles

Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team release version selections

The following articles have all been selected for one or more release versions of wikipedia. Please help ensure that they remain of the highest possible quality.

Bounties

$10.00 have been pledged to the Wikimedia Foundation for bringing Panini (grammarian) to FA status.

Awards

This user has been awarded the Wheel of Dhamma, for exemplary contributions to Buddhism related articles

The Wheel of Dhamma
The Wheel of Dhamma, introduced by User:Srkris is a special award, and unlike Barnstars, is granted through nomination and acclamation by the participants of this project.

Attention Wikiproject Buddhism participants: to nominate, or vote upon the nomination of another participant of this project who you feel has contributed in an extraordinary way to the improvement of Wikipedia's Buddhism articles, click here.

Current Nominees: Mind_meal

Hall of Fame

In special recognition by their fellow participants, for exemplary contributions to the presentation of Buddhism on Wikipedia which go above and beyond all expectations, the following extraordinary Wikipedians have been presented the Wikiproject Buddhism's highest award, the Wheel of Dhamma:

Barnstars

Image What to type Description
Buddha Barnstar {{subst:The Buddha Barnstar|message ~~~~}} May be awarded to an editor who contributes, spreads, or posts helpful information about Buddhism.

Designed and introduced by Rbpolsen

Userbox

Wikiproject_BuddhismThis user is a participant in
WikiProject Buddhism.

Contributors can put this {{User WikiProject Buddhism}} to show that they are members of this project.

WikiProject Buddhism notice

Place this WikiProject notice {{WikiProject Buddhism}} at the top of an article's Talk page to direct editors to the WikiProject Buddhism for guidelines.

Discussion

Templates for Articles

...Forthcoming, hopefully/

Infobox:Buddhist teachers

I gave creating this template a shot (it's my first!) Template:Infobox Buddhist teacher - see what you think, and to see it in action, check out Thich Nhat Hanhs article. Please let me know if changes should be made. Nightngle 02:48, 30 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I also created an infobox for Buddhists, teachers or otherwise, at Template:Infobox Buddhist biography. (Mind meal (talk) 22:05, 25 January 2008 (UTC))[reply]

Some general examples:

Specific features and issues

  • Zen has an internal glossary. Should this feature be spread to other articles, or should there be a central glossary, or both?
  • Nagarjuna and Prajnaparamita feature tables comparing translations of texts. Does this feature seem sufficently valuable for us to make a standard of it?

Buddhism large sidebar

  • '''{{Template:Buddhism}}'''

Buddhism sidebars/footer

Purpose Code Template
Buddhism small sidebar {{Buddhism|terse=1}}
Part of a series on
Buddhism
History
Buddhist texts
Practices
Nirvāṇa
Traditions
Buddhism by country
Buddhism initially collapsed sidebar {{Buddhism|collapsed=1}}
Part of a series on
Buddhism
History
Buddhist texts
Practices
Nirvāṇa
Traditions
Buddhism by country
Page Footer {{Buddhism2}} Template:Buddhism2


An example for Jetavana:


  • For Windows users who deal in devanagari and/or romanization on a regular basis, try Itranslator
  • the Pali Dictionary of Proper Names is in the Public Domain (can be copied into Wikipedia) and has a lot of usefull material on the people and places that were around at the time of Buddha (according to Pali tradition).

To-do

Editing /
Formatting 		Missing Articles
List
List
Expansion Merges
List
List
  • ・This list currently empty; if any articles relating to Buddhism planned for merging please list them here so they can be discussed and implemented.
Discussions Crossreferences
List
List
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